Today the vacuum created by the attack on the authority and sufficiency of Scripture and the tradition of the Church has left the way open for a secular humanist mentality to pervade the life of many Christian people. The new goal is happiness and satisfaction, not holiness. Whatever makes a person happy is what he or she is encouraged to pursue, and when given the choice between God's will or our will, far too many Christians choose their own will.
Man Placed at the Center
The secular humanist call to fulfill oneself, to achieve individual happiness, to place one's faith in the inevitability of human progress has a powerful hold on the minds of many Christians today. For many Christians, the desire for worldly happiness and success has become the driving force in their lives. God is important only when His dictates do not conflict with our selfish desires.
The displacement of the biblical faith that once informed Western society by the Enlightenment faith that is undermining it provides the unifying theme for the various idolatries that populate our society. When Jesus said that false Christ's would come to lead people astray (Matt. 24:24), he did not mean there would be lunatics thinking they were he, but rather that messianic figures and movements demanding ultimate allegiance would deceive people into following idols. The practice of idolatry has serious consequences, which the prophets of Israel identified as oppression, injustice, and bloodshed. That is why the ascendancy of Enlightenment faith to a position of dominance in recent decades has brought the pathologies of the West to a state of virulence. [Herbert Schlossberg, Idols for Destruction, pg. 262. ]
Beyond the obvious idols of individualism Americans have set up in their lives, we have elevated many other idols in our society.
Once a great beacon of hope throughout the world, America has collectively sold herself to the idols of money and power. Americans (along with others around the world) have used that idolatry to finance their own shackles of slavery, as they have sold themselves to the forces of the antichrist moneychangers. Most recognize their slavery deep in their heart, but refuse to admit it, choosing instead to live a life of fantasy and make believe.
The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is
servant to the lender.
[Proverbs 22:7]
The dollar is a deception. Paper money today is a broken promise. It
is the Federal Reserve's defaulted debt. For every dollar that the banks
issued, they were supposed to owe real gold and silver. But the
Federal Reserve has long
been bankrupt; and refuses to honor their debt by paying in gold. This refusal
to pay gold started in 1933, and was completed in 1971. The Fed continues to
issue (loan) dollars to others. Far more paper dollars have been loaned than
dollars that exist.
Everyone who is in debt must continue to service
their interest payments and is a servant to the lender, and is serving mammon,
and therefore cannot serve another master, the Lord, and has violated the First
commandment, rejecting the freedom that serving God offers.
If you are
currently in debt, the way out is to first acknowledge your debt, your sin,
your mistake, and to turn away from it. Declare bankruptcy, and do not go into
debt again. Take advantage of the resources available to help you
get out of debt. Live free; as the Lord
has set us free.
But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. And though this temple is now so imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’” [2 Chronicles 7:19-22]
Millions of Americans look to Oprah Winfrey and her new age advisors for counsel about their lives as they reject the saving grace of God. In 2007, Winfrey began to endorse the new age self-help program, The Secret. The Secret claims that people can change their lives through positive thoughts, which will then cause vibrations that result in good things happening to them. This is nothing more than new age pseudoscience and psychologically damaging, as it trivializes important decisions and promotes a quick-fix material culture.
They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand. [Isaiah 44:18]
Since ours is not so much a pagan (which is to say pre-Christian) society as it is a post-Christian one, the dangers are all the more serious. The forces of idolatry do not urge us to worship Zeus but rather use the language that for many centuries has been associated with the Christian church. Profound religious differences may on the surface appear trivial, and one who points to them runs the risk of being called a hair-splitter. Just as an observer in the seventh century before Christ would be hard-pressed to distinguish the altar of the Lord from one dedicated to Baal, so are we faced with similar confusion when devotees of the idol state use the language of Christian compassion in their evangelistic mission. [Herbert Schlossberg, Idols for Destruction, pp. 322-323. ]
What's your idol?
- Money?
- Stock Market?
- Pride?
- Your own opinion?
- Fame?
- Power?
- Academic degrees?
- Sports?
- Entertainment?
- Job?
- Family?
- Pleasure?
- Television?
- Church programs?
- Religion?
- Food?
- Exercise?
- Politics?
Whatever comes between you and the Lord, in your daily living, is
your idol.
(Ex. 20:3-5; 32:3-4; Ps 24:3-5; Isa. 44:15-17)
